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quality of life

Quality of life is an umbrella term used to capture both an individual's objective circumstances (e.g. poor living-standards, ill-health, fractious relationships, little enrichment) and their subjective appraisal of those circumstances (e.g. inferred from evidence of distress, anxiety or unhappiness). It taps into a broader movement within social policy and psychology that is interested in 'positive' well-being as opposed to what are perceived as more deficit-orientated approaches.